It is easy to have a love/hate relationship with Anne Rice. She is a controlling author, yet a masterful one. She is one of the few authors that is able to truly make me feel as if I were the individual in the scene. It can be argued that her works are not horror. Horrific things happen in them, that is certain; but they lack the edge to move them from intense supernatural drama into true horror. Her vampires are too real, too human, to be categorised as monsters. I will list all of the Vampire Chronicle novels and attempt to introduce the premise in a few short sentences (to fully explain even one novel would take too long). Below I am including links to the wiki site for each of them, so that a greater summary can be found for those who are interested.
(All images, save for Memnoch, taken by me. I only own hardcover Memnoch, so found image here: http://openlibrary.org/books/OL3665082M/Memnoch_the_Devil)
Interview With the Vampire
The vampire Louis tells the story of his life, death, and un-life to a young boy reporter in what seems to be a San Francisco motel room. It is a story of regret, futility, and of the consequence of choice. Louis speaks of Lestat (the vampire who made him), Claudia (the child vampire whom he dearly loved), and of Armand (an older vampire with the face of a teenager). While the boy reporter finds hope in the story Louis himself can find nothing but desolation.
The Vampire Lestat
Like the previous story it is also a memoir, as told by Lestat. The past story tells of his becoming a vampire against his will, saving the life of his dying mother Gabrielle, relationship with Armand, and searching for the origins of the vampire race. He eventually finds his answers, which have repercussions. Lestat has fashioned himself as a rock god and spills the vampire secrets to the world in music, sparking a vampire civil war and awakening an ancient power. This is the first novel (of several) to feature Lestat as a vampire hero and, in a way, shapes the vampire ideal in popular literature.
The Queen of the Damned
My favorite novel, mostly as it introduces several fantastic characters. Sadly, few actually appear in the series again after this novel. The Vampire Lestat ended after the diastrous concert; this novel retells what happened before the concert. The narrative mainly follows three individuals (Jesse, a paranormal researcher), Daniel (the boy from Interview With the Vampire), and Khayman (one of the original vampires) as each heads towards Lestat's concert. Lestat's music has awakened the first vampire, the Queen Akasha, and she is not pleased in the direction the world has gone. The "good" vampires gather in order to stop her.
The Tale of the Body Thief
Mostly the aftermath of previous events in that Lestat is struggling with his new powers and with his grief. He feels a disconnect with the world and, in order to experience things as they were, he agrees to switch his body with that of a renegade psychic. The psychic once worked for the Talamasca, a paranormal investigative organization, and it is to another of these members (David Talbot) that Lestat heads to when it all goes wrong.
Memnoch the Devil
Lestat is benig hunted by the devil. Satan (or Memnoch, as he is known) wants Lestat to work with him. The book is mostly about a version of the Devil's origins and Lestat's struggles with being a vampire and wanting to be good. Religious imagery is heavily featured and at times detracts from the story. At the end Lestat goes slightly mad, falling in to coma.
The original Vampire Chronicles continues with The Vampire Armand, Merrick, Blood and Gold, Blackwood Farm, and Blood Canticle. I have only read the first in the list and did not enjoy it. I have not read the others.
The New Tales of the Vampires are not part of this series and consist of only two novels: Pandora and Vittorio the Vampire. I enjoyed these ones. The first tells of the story of Pandora (a character introduced in the Queen of the Damned), written at the urging of David Talbot. At this time Lestat is still in a coma. Vittorio is about an all new vampire, also telling his story, of seeking vengeance on a coven of vampires after they slaughtered his family. In a Romeo and Juliet twist he falls in love with one of the vampires and is unable to kill her; in response she turns him. Which intrigued me is that Vittorio, after being driven half-mad by the coven, is able to see angels. This element adds a new spin to Anne Rice's vampire lore and was possibly the inspiration for her later Angel novels.
Wiki Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interview_with_the_Vampire
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Vampire_Lestat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Queen_of_the_Damned
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_the_Body_Thief
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memnoch_the_Devil
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Vampire_Armand
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merrick_(novel)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_and_Gold
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackwood_Farm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Canticle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandora_(novel)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vittorio_the_Vampire
BONUS
youtube link for Interview With the Vampire trailer. A fantastic adaptation of the novel!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrZ-2VT_29U
youtube link for Queen of the Damned trailer. Not a bad film, even if it strays.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Gu9HtN05sc
Rumour has it that Body Thief may soon be in production. Fingers crossed!
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